Pirates set sail for State Tourney

DAYTON–Pirate basketball fans got their money's worth from the Buccaneer Five as the team battled to stay alive in the District 9 tournament against first Tekoa-Rosalia, then Oakesdale, winning both to move on to play-in games in the WIAA State Tournament Opening Round, which started prior to this edition's press time, Tuesday, Feb. 21, with the Pirates taking on Muckleshoot Tribal School on the home maple.

Please visit http://www.eastwashingtonian.com for the latest on the Pirate boys' adventures on hardwood in the 2022-23 State Basketball Tournament.

When the district dust settled, tournament organizers set the first round for Feb. 21 at the higher seed's location, with the play-in games in the opening round and second round Feb. 24-25 being loser out for teams seeded below the top eight. New to the tournament this year, according to Toddette McGreevy, P.H.S. Athletic Director, is an increase in 1B team allotments to the state tourney from 16 to 20 teams. A twenty-team tournament was set with the eight Opening Round teams battling to advance to the opening round while the top eight seeded teams start the double-elimination section of the tournament on Feb. 25 at various locations.

If the Pirates beat 21st-ranked Muckleshoot Tribal, their next game will be Saturday at Mt. Vernon High School against Mt. Vernon Christian, game time 12 noon, also loser-out. Mt. Vernon Christian finished seventh in the WIAA's RPI, ahead of Pomeroy's 16th. Wellpinit at 22-1 is ranked first, followed by 21-2 DeSales and 19-4 Sunnyside Christian.

Pomeroy met its first challenge, a 67-60 win over Tekoa-Rosalia.

"This was a back-and-forth game with huge momentum swings," said Head Coach Chris Wolf said of the team's 67-60 win over the Timberwolves.

"We got off to a great start with a 10-0 lead to start the game, but T-R chipped away at the lead the rest of the half to make it 32-29 at the half.

"T-R took it to us in the third quarter," Wolf said, "scoring 25 points and extended their lead to 11 early in the fourth but we were able to withstand it and made a great comeback. We played great defense in the fourth quarter and held them to six to give ourselves a shot to win the game."

Jett Slusser's big fourth quarter helped the Pirates' rally. He drained a pair of treys to finish with nine points and Trevin Kimble, with 22 points and six assists, joined with Ollie Severs and Trace Roberts to push the team to a win.

After trailing by 11 in the fourth quarter, the Pirates edged ahead 61-60 with 1:41 remaining. The defense held and Kimble again pushed with a pull-up jumper for two, with the and-one on the foul for a 64-60 lead and 1:28 remaining.

Kimble swiped the ball to give the Pirates possession and in the ensuing play, he was whistled with his fifth foul with 49 seconds to go.

Severs excited fans with a steal and fouled, he stepped to the line, missing the front end of a one-and-one, and a time out by T-R with :37 on the clock.

Timberwolf Morgun Martin missed a three pointer with Roberts snagging the rebound in the T-R paint and with 12 seconds remaining, Pomeroy called a time out.

Jett Slusser was fouled, sinking both with 10 seconds to go, and again T-R went to its hot hand from the ark, Martin, who missed, with Slusser grabbing the board. He was fouled and he split two foul shots with one-point-seven seconds to go and the win, 67-60.

"Kimble had seven points in the fourth quarter [22 in the game] before fouling out and really helped us get back into it," Wolf said. "Jett Slusser had a huge fourth quarter for us with nine points and handled the ball for us after Trevin fouled out. Ollie Severs had a great all-around game with 24 points and nine rebounds."

Roberts helped with 10 points, five of six shooting from the field, six rebounds and three assists, Wolf said.

"Boone Schmidt, Brodie Magill, and Brady Bott gave us great minutes tonight defensively and Brady Bott came up with a big loose ball late in the game with a great hustle play," he added.

The Pirates punched their ticket to the state tournament with a solid 51-39 win over ice-cold Oakesdale.

"It was a hard-fought, even first half that we ended up leading by four," Wolf said. "We were able to turn a six-point, first-quarter deficit into a four-point lead at the half thanks to our defense."

Pomeroy held the Nighthawks to two points in the second quarter, (20-16) and three points (33-25) in the third quarter.

In the fourth, Oakesdale's pressure started to pay dividends, and the lead was pared to seven points with about three and one-half minutes to go. Roberts had picked up some of the slack with a bucket at that point. Then Jett Slusser stole the ball and lofted it to a breaking Kimble for two more, 39-28, and Oakesdale's fight seemed to go out of them.

Roberts was fouled at 2:41, splitting the pair for a 12-point lead, 40-28. Kimble picked another pocket and took the ball coast to coast for another lay up, trading buckets for a 42-30 score.

Not so fast, Oakesdale said as the press yielded a few points and Pomeroy's lead dwindled to 42-35. The Nighthawks scored and Kimble answered by hitting both ends of a one-and-one, 44-37 with 1:16 to play.

Oakesdale's hurry shot missed and Roberts was fouled, missing the front end of a one-and-one but Severs salvaged the play by getting the rebound.

The Nighthawks' Will Lanius fouled, sending Kimble to the line, making one of two and a 45-37 margin. Lanius again fouled Kimble after Oakesdale's offensive try hit, and Kimble swished them both, 47-39.

Severs dished to Kimble for a solo lay in with half a minute to play, and Kimble wrapped up scoring with a pair of gifters with 11 seconds to go.

"Oakesdale cut the lead to seven but we were able to put the game away at the free throw line," Wolf said.

Kimble led with 27 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Severs had 15 points and 13 rebounds. "Brodie Magill had a great game with six big points, including a three pointer in the third quarter that helped key the run for us," Wolf said. "He also held Will Lanius to three points tonight with another great defensive performance."

Jett Slusser had eight rebounds and did a great job on their point guard.

Oakesdale 39, Pomeroy 51 (2/17)

Pom 8 12 13 18-51

Oak 14 2 3 20-39

Pomeroy (51) Severs 6 2-4 15, Jett Slusser 0 0-0 0, Kimble 7 11-12 27, Magill 2 1-2 6, Roberts 1 1-3 3. Totals 16 15-21 51.

Oakesdale (39) Brown 3 0-0 7, McHargue 1 0-0 2, Anderson 0 2-2 2, Perry 8 3-4 22, Bober 1 0-0 2, Lanius 1 0-0 3, Reed 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 6-8 39.

3-point goals-Oakesdale 5: Brown, Perry 3, Lanius. Pomeroy 4: Severs, Kimble 2, Magill.

Pomeroy 67, Tekoa-Rosalia 60 (2/15)

Pom 17 15 15 20-67

TR 11 18 25 6-60

Pomeroy (67) Severs 10 2-3 24, Jett Slusser 2 5-8 11, Kimble 9 4-5 22, Roberts 5 0-1 10, Totals 26 11-17 67.

Tekoa-Rosalia (60) Martin 5 1-1 14, Campbell 2 0-0 5, French 1 1-2 3, Bone 6 3-4 17, Morgan 2 2-4 6, Gehring 7 1-1 15, Totals 23 8-12 60.

3-point goals-Tekoa-Rosalia 6: Martin 3, Campbell, Bone 2. Pomeroy 4: Severs 2, Jett Slusser 2. Fouled out: T-R Bone. Pomeroy Kimble.